OK , Pure random guessing before any car launch or testing . Who do you think will start with the ” fastest car ” on the grid in 2013 . The best way to determine is at Melbourne qualifying . Will we have a front row lockout like last time by any team this year ?

My guess is McLaren will start the season with the best car. They had the fastest car for the vast majority of 2012 and most importantly the end of 2012. So if any team will have a front row lockout I think it will be them.
Red Bull will have their DDRS banned so I doubt that they will have the fastest car even if their starting point is far from poor.

Mclaren will have the fastest car. It’s between them and Red Bull. Ferrari won’t be far away, and will probably reel them in during mid-season development. I’m not too sure about Lotus, but I’m afraid that Mercedes will start off with an absolute donkey.

Red Bull usually is quick, but we’ve also seen they can be fragile at the start of the season. I know there were little rule changes, but with some details changing and being banned, we might see them having some trouble getting the most out of the car in the beginning.

McLaren usually does well at the start of the season in recent years, so I’ll be on the lookout for Button, regardless of him not being a great qualifier and we know Perez can make his way through a field.

Ferrari will have learned from last year and their car won’t be as radically different from their 2012 challenger, as opposed to the difference between 2011-2012. They do have a small risk due to using Toyota’s windtunnel and Ferrari hasn’t been a team who directly understands a car when there’s something wrong, especially with limited testing. I think the rewards of improving the simulator and having de la Rosa will not show early in the season, so I’d say they’re behind McLaren and Red Bull speedwise, but we know their cars last and Alonso doesn’t often put a foot wrong.

Lotus is harder to predict, they had a very good year last year and a decent season in 2010, but seasons like 2009 and 2011, they never really seemed to take off. They do have some good staff and with new sponsors and the fact they were able to keep up nicely with the 3 top teams development wise, I think they’ll be there. As for Mercedes, I don’t dare predict. I was sure they would be winning races early last year, but they somehow managed to mess up a lot and I don’t think Niki Lauda or hiring more star names will change that early in the season.

I’m also pretty curious what midfield team will surprise. If Lotus or Mercedes (or Ferrari for that matter) do manage to start off behind the top teams, we might have Sauber or another team being able to jump in. With Force India catching up with both Mercedes and Sauber late last year, Williams having a good car but not fulfilling its potential, I think we’re in for another good battle in the midfield as well, provided that guys like Maldonado, Bottas, Gutiérrez and whoever ends up driving for Force India can keep their cars on the track.

My money is on Mercedes providing the surprise in Melbourne (again). But (again) I can bet that’s only gonna last for 3-4 GPs (AGAIN!). On the other hand, I expect Red Bull and Ferrari to get to it right from the start with McLaren and Lotus closely behind. Hopefully it’s gonna be close.

Yeah well it’s all a matter of personality. Senna might have been a very nice person off-track but from what I’ve heard he could be a real dick while racing (I started watching F1 in the early 2000s so I don’t really have any personal experience). Arguably, Kimi is the opposite, but with him it’s got lot to do with his nationality, I think. Finns are not über-social with total strangers (well, some of us anyway… there are exceptions of course) which some understand as rudeness while it can just be normal behavior for us.

I’m not sure if you’re just baiting for a heated discussion or genuinely mad, but this isn’t the place to rant about driver personalities or try to insult people with the length of their F1 fandom.

As much as I want the Ferrari’s up there I will go with the Majority and say the Mclarens, they had such a strong car last year but never got the full potential out of it I believe.

McLaren had a pretty odd season, but I think they kind of lost their way with setups and reliability moreso than using the car to it’s full potential. I think the car had a specific operating window, as it simply wouldn’t work around some tracks. If they have to that figured out and manage to keep the thing reliable, not to mention a more stable start to the season than 2012, I think they might hit hard in the first few races, depending on Perez.

I also have to say I’m curious how Ferrari is going to develop during the season. With a reliable windtunnel, further simulator integration and de la Rosa, they might be able to lead the development race early on.